Earl of Stamford

Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford.

Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and younger brother of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk (the father of Lady Jane Grey; Suffolk was executed for treason in 1554 with his titles forfeited) (see the Duke of Suffolk for earlier history of the family).

History

Lord John Grey, of Pirgo's son Sir Henry Grey was in 1603 raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Grey of Groby, in the County of Leicester. He was succeeded by his grandson, the second Baron. He was created Earl of Stamford in the Peerage of England in 1628. Lord Stamford later fought as a Parliamentarian in the Civil War. His eldest son Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby, was a leading Parliamentarian in the Civil War. He was one of the judges at the trial of Charles I and one of the regicides who signed the King's death warrant. He predeceased his father and never succeeded in the earldom. Lord Stamford's daughter Lady Elizabeth Grey married George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, and was the mother of Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington. He was succeeded by his grandson, the second Earl. He was the only son of Lord Grey of Groby. Lord Stamford was a politician and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and as President of the Board of Trade. He was childless and on his death in 1720 the titles passed to his first cousin, the third Earl. He was the son of the Hon. John Grey, younger son of the first Earl.

He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Earl. He briefly represented Leicestershire in the House of Commons. Lord Stamford married his second cousin once removed Lady Mary Booth, daughter of George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (on whose death in 1758 the earldom of Warrington became extinct). When he died the titles passed to his son, the fifth Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament for Staffordshire and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire. In 1796 the barony of Delamere (which had become extinct in 1770) and earldom of Warrington held by his mother's family were revived when he was made Baron Delamer and Earl of Warrington in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was succeeded by his son, the sixth Earl. He represented Aldborough and St Germans in Parliament and was Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire. His son George Harry Grey, Lord Grey of Groby (1802–1835), was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Grey of Groby in 1833. However, he predeceased his father. Lord Stamford was therefore succeeded by his grandson, the seventh Earl. He was the son of Lord Grey of Groby and had already succeeded as ninth Baron Grey of Groby on his father's death. Lord Stamford was a great patron of the Turf. On his death in 1883 the barony of Delamer and earldom of Warrington became extinct.

The late Earl was succeeded in the barony of Grey of Groby and the earldom of Stamford by his third cousin once removed Reverend Harry Grey, the eighth Earl. He was the son of Reverend Harry Grey, son of the Hon. John Grey, third son of the fourth Earl. He was succeeded by his nephew, the ninth Earl. However, it was not until 1892 that the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords confirmed the latter in the title, as the Committee wished to be assured that a marriage contracted by the 8th Earl while he lived abroad had not produced a legitimate heir.[1] (The 8th Earl, who lived in South Africa, had married his housekeeper after she had already given birth to two of his children, the elder of whom was a boy. As this son was born before the date of his father's marriage however his illegitimacy prevented his inheriting the title; while a third child, born after the marriage and therefore legitimate, could not inherit the earldom because she was female.[2]) On the 9th Earl's death the titles passed to his son, the tenth Earl. He served briefly as Parliamentary Private Secretary (unpaid) to the Secretary of State for India, Lord Peel, in 1922 and was also Mayor of Altrincham from 1937 to 1938. Lord Stamford never married and on his death in 1976 his titles became extinct.

Estates

The main family seat of the Earls of Stamford in later years was Dunham Massey Hall, near Altrincham, Cheshire. Dunham Massey was bequeathed to the National Trust by the 10th and last Earl, but continues to be lived in by the Turnbull family, descendants of the late Lady Jane Turnbull, née Grey, sister and only sibling of the 10th Earl.

Another ancestral seat of the Grey family was Enville Hall, Staffordshire, and the house is occupied by members of the family to this day. This was devised by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford to his great niece, Catherine Payne, who married Sir Henry Foley Lambert, 7th Baronet (who took the surname Grey) in 1905, and subsequently to his granddaughter.[3]

The original family seat, Bradgate Park in Leicestershire, was only used for hunting after the family moved to Enville. It is now held in trust for public enjoyment.

Barons Grey of Groby (1603)

Earls of Stamford (1628)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Times, Wednesday, May 04, 1892; pg. 3; Issue 33629; col B House Of Lords. Committee For Privileges., The Stamford Peerage.
  2. ↑ THE STAMFORD PEERAGE. Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1912, 13 July 1892, Page 5
  3. ↑ Victoria County History, Staffordshire XX, 97.

References

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